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Atlas / NTSB / FTW96LA179

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event FTW96LA179

1996-04-23 COLORADO SPGS, Colorado, United States Airport · COS None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N55126

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

CESSNA 172P

Year of manufacture

1981 · 15 years old at event

Engine

LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19810702

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A705DF

Registrant of record

ZING AVIATION AND MARINE LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

the student pilot'S failure to maintain control of the aircraft during a go-around.

Factual narrative

On April 23, 1996, at 1115 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172P, N55126, was substantially damaged following a loss of control while landing at Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The student pilot was not injured. The solo instructional flight was operating under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The pilot, who had accumulated 46 hours total flight time and 3 hours solo time, said he was doing touch-and-go landings on runway 17L after completing his air work in a designated area east of the airport. When he was ready for a full stop landing he said that he requested runway 17L so he would be close to his parking area. According to the pilot, as he flared the aircraft for landing, it began to settle and he attempted to go around. During this attempt, the left wing dropped and the aircraft impacted beside the runway. The pilot stated that a wind shear alert (LLWAS) began shortly after his accident. A review of weather information at the Colorado Springs Airport, revealed no evidence of an LLWAS alert during the time period and recorded wind, taken as part of a special observation immediately following the accident, was from 190 degrees magnetic at 4 knots. There were no gusts recorded. When returning from a solo training flight the student pilot was making a full stop landing. During the flare for landing the aircraft began to settle and the pilot attempted to go-around. The left wing dropped and the aircraft impacted beside the runway. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1996_FTW96LA179.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

What the literature says.

Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (wind shear, loss of control, go-around). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗